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2012: Year of the Shandy?

Posted on March 13, 2012 at 5:55 pm by Adam Nason

(Boston, MA) – The Boston Beer Company plans to debut a variation of a Shandy known as a Radler in May called Samuel Adams Porch Rocker. It will be available in six-packs on a limited basis through July.

Wikipedia tells us that a Shandy is a “beer mixed with citrus-flavored soda, carbonated lemonade, ginger beer, ginger ale, or cider. The proportions of the two ingredients are adjusted to taste, normally half-and-half. There are also non-alcoholic shandies known as ‘rock shandies.’ A shandy containing beer and cider is called a Snakebite. […] A radler consists of a 50:50 or 60:40 mixture of beer and German-style lemonade (not American-style lemonade but sparkling lemon soda (e.g., Sprite or 7 Up)).”

While Cider has hogged headlines in recent weeks as a rising alternative to traditional malt beverages, Shandy is worth noting and Boston Beer is just the latest entrant into the mix.

So why Shandy? Why now?

Breweries are looking for ways to curb receding market share to wine and spirits with new products geared toward those that don’t like the taste of beer. For those that do and drink craft beer on a casual basis, Shandy might appeal. Casual craft beer drinkers and drinkers that cling to flagships (and safe seasonals) still drive more volume in the category than those who experiment. Though breweries are increasing activity with barrels and so on, that fringe crowd is massive and can’t be ignored. Shandy offers a trade-up opportunity for those danging between premiums like Bud Light and crafts, and can work as a gateway to trials of other brands in the portfolio.

The top dog in the style is Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy with between 200k and 250k barrels sold last year, a growth rate of 80% over 2010 (per MillerCoors earnings calls). That kind of volume ranks Summer Shandy in with the country’s largest craft breweries, reason enough for Leinie’s to expand Summer Shandy availability this year and introduce a seasonal Shandy program beginning this fall.

As for Boston Beer, Porch Rocker Radler will be just a small introduction this year with the company placing focus on the off-premise channel for the inaugural release. Porch Rocker is described as a “traditional Bavarian-style Radler,” a blend of German-style Helles lager and real lemon.

If it ever came out in cans!!!??? WHAT!? How can any self respecting beer drinker say that any beer that comes in cans is good? I definitely notice a difference between drinking it in a glass, drinking out of the bottle and drinking out of a can. The can is usually awful, or at best, the least desired method, followed by from the bottle and in a glass. Sam would NEVER be in cans, because then it will just be as bad as the mass-produced swill and Jim Koch knows it.

now aside from that, can’t wait to find this in my local store. Sam Adams – always a good decision!

you sire, are an idiot. Sierra Nevada, 21st amendment, oskar blues, New Belgium, Six Point, etc etc. Cans are superior in preventing skunking, they’re easier to recycle, and they don’t shatter and therefore are better for activities like camping, boating, etc.

And Butternuts, Brooklyn, sly fox, flying dog (coming soon), wells, magic hat, boulder beer, etc. if you think it tastes like aluminum, pour it in a glass. You would so the same for a great craft beer in a bottle, so why wouldn’t you do that for beer in a can?

And while I agree Sam Adams is no longer “craft beer,” let’s remember that Leinenkugels is a Coors beer. And Sam Adams Boston Lager and Summer Ale DOES come in cans, doofus. Not so omnipresent after all…